• The matter will be mentioned on March 23.
• On Wednesday, the county government moved to court seeking orders to compel health workers to return to work after talks failed on Monday.
Image: AURA RUTH
The Mombasa government on Wednesday obtained a court order to halt a health workers strike that has disrupted services in all public hospitals.
The strike started on Monday.
The temporary order was issued by judge Agnes Kitiku of the labour court.
“An interim order of injunction is hereby issued, restraining the respondents (health workers’ unions) and their members from carrying on with the strike action,” the order reads.
The matter will be mentioned on March 23.
On Wednesday, the county government moved to court seeking orders to compel health workers to return to work after talks failed on Monday.
The strike has disrupted services at all public health facilities in the county, including the Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital.
At Coast General Hospital, patients in the ICU are being taken care of by a handful of doctors and nurses who are employed on contract.
Health workers are demanding their February salaries and remittance of statutory deductions for the months of January and February. They have vowed not to return to work until the matter is resolved.
Last week, the county government paid January salaries and three-month statutory deductions for October and December last year.
Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union Mombasa branch secretary Dr Nassir Shaban said they will go to court to challenge the order.
He said their legal team has advised them that the order issued by the court is unlawful because the county should have made an application under an existing suit.
In October 2021, KMPDU sued the county government over salary delays and non-remittance of statutory deductions. The matter is yet to be concluded.
“They should have made an application under the existing suit, rather than filing a fresh suit. The current suit is an abuse of the court process,” Shaban said.
He said they will prove to the court that there is an existing suit, they have not been paid their salaries and ask the judge to direct that settlement is paid within a certain number of days.
“We shall flip the suit against them,” Shaban said.
Workers from the county government have pleaded with the medics to return to work, saying they should give the Hassan Joho-led administration time to resolve the stalemate.
“We as Kenya County Government Workers Union call upon health workers to be patient because the county government is in the process of paying the February salaries,” union chairperson Abdulrahman Omar said.
Union secretary Haji Kibwana said they have received assurances that the February salaries and the two months statutory deduction will be paid soon.
“We are in communication with the county officials to come up with a new collective bargaining agreement. In case we do not come to an agreement, we will then have grounds to issue a strike notice,” he said.
Edited by A.N